Translator: Xiong_Guoqi Editor: DesTheSloth
After the meal, Yang Da sent Little Ruo back to her company directly. When he came downstairs, he checked the time.
"There are only 20 minutes left. I can arrive there in 5 minutes and stay there for about 15 minutes." Yang Da looked at his phone and murmured to himself.
Quickly, he hurried to Yuan Zhou's restaurant.
As he was riding an electric bike, he didn't need to worry about the problem of parking.
The cars were all parked along the main street outside and only electric bikes or bicycles could get on the side street. Therefore, Yang Da got down the bike and locked it very quickly.
Once he arrived at the door, Yang Da slipped into Yuan Zhou's restaurant swiftly.
"I forgot to line up." Yang Da patted on his head and immediately walked out to the end of the line silently before he was driven out by others.
That's right. Everybody had to line up before they entered the restaurant. Otherwise, Yuan Zhou's restaurant would surely be heavily crowded.
It was lucky that Yang Da was a smart person. He had already reserved a number in case such emergencies happened.
Of course, he made good use of the reservation function of the queuing machine.
He can reserve a number for lunchtime on the following day. That way, he can enter Yuan Zhou's restaurant every day to watch Yuan Zhou's craftsmanship carefully.
As soon as he entered the restaurant, Master Cheng smiled and said to Yuan Zhou, "Look! That young man came again to watch you."
"Um." Yuan Zhou nodded, indicating he heard that.
"I think he definitely came again to steal your craftsmanship and then goes back to run his own business." When Master Cheng said that, he appeared to think otherwise.
"No." Yuan Zhou shook his head.
"Why?" Master Cheng asked with puzzlement.
"The people who came last time and before that time as well as the man yesterday and this person all have different concerns." Yuan Zhou said lightly.
"Really?" Master Cheng was a little puzzled.
In his opinion, all the several people had started fixedly at Yuan Zhou's cooking and carrying dishes as well as things like plate presentation and appearance of the dishes. Apparently, they were all looking at Yuan Zhou that way. How could Yuan Zhou say they had different concerns?
"Observational ability is also very important. You watch carefully." Yuan Zhou looked at Master Cheng and said that.
"Okay. Thank you for reminding." Master Cheng lowered his head and thanked him seriously.
"Um." Yuan Zhou nodded.
Yuan Zhou appeared to be more and more like a grandmaster, he just lacked the craftsmanship a grand master should have.
"It seems that I have to level up as soon as possible." Yuan Zhou knitted his brows and said inwardly.
After that, Master Cheng started to watch Yang Da earnestly and began to practice his observational ability mentioned by Yuan Zhou.
On the other hand, Yang Da started to stare at Yuan Zhou from the very beginning.
Having been reminded by Yuan Zhou, Master Cheng found something that he didn't notice during normal times when he looked at Yang Da.
"This young man is only interested in certain dishes." Master Cheng muttered to himself.
"Besides, he doesn't seem to be stealing craftsmanship. Instead, he's more interested in the plate presentation." Master Cheng stroked his own head and was slightly puzzled.
"Yeah, right. So he's not here to learn the culinary skills." When Yuan Zhou turned around and heard Master Cheng's words, he answered directly.
"Then what does he come every day for?" Master Cheng asked conveniently.
"Observe carefully and find the answer by yourself." Yuan Zhou said with an extraordinarily solemn and posturing look.
"Okay. Let me observe it by myself." Seeing Yuan Zhou become serious, Master Cheng also appeared that way and answered earnestly.
"Um." Yuan Zhou nodded and then went back to his own position to continue making the dishes.
"Boss Yuan, a serving of Steamed Tofu with Minced Pork for me, please." The voices ordering dishes were an endless stream.
Having been used to that, Zhou Jia took notes one after another unhurriedly and then reported all to Yuan Zhou.
"A serving of Steamed Tofu with Minced Pork and a serving of Plain White Rice." Zhou Jia reported the names of the dishes to Yuan Zhou.
"Okay." Yuan Zhou nodded.
He took out the whole piece of tofu prepared in the morning and directly cut one square piece off with the knife.
"Zi". There passed the sound of the knife touching the bamboo board. After that, the tofu was directly thrown into the clean water at the side along with Yuan Zhou's actions and stirred slightly with the crystal rod.
Only when he was sure that every surface of the tofu was thoroughly washed did Yuan Zhou pick up the tofu quickly and easily with the bamboo knife with wide back.
"Pa". The piece of tofu fell down on the chopping board and emitted slightly sound.
"Shua Shua". With a few more cuts, Yuan Zhou separated the tofu into small cubes of identical size.
He moved the originally neat tofu with the kitchen knife from the chopping board into the pan. At that time, the temperature of the oil in the pan was just right.
There came the drastic sound of "Pa Pa" when the soft and tender tofu came in contact with the boiling hot oil.
Yuan Zhou adjusted the flame with one hand and took the pan to adjust the angles with the other in order to ensure every piece of the tofu was fully pan-fried until they all became dry and yellowish.
In order to prevent the tofu from sticking to the pan, Yuan Zhou carefully observed the flame and adjusted the positions of the pan from time to time.
While cooking, Yuan Zhou's expression was always quite attentive.
The cooking of the Steamed Tofu with Minced Pork had been mastered by Yuan Zhou and didn't require him to strictly follow the system's cooking instructions. Instead, he cooked as naturally as the floating clouds and flowing water. Therefore, Yuan Zhou appeared more and more handsome while cooking.
Just in a little while, this dish was done and placed on the curved long table directly, waiting to be carried to the customers.
At that time, Chu Xiao that came from nowhere suddenly stopped Yuan Zhou.
"The pan you are using is really very good." Chu Xiao said with an affirmative tone.
"Of course." Yuan Zhou nodded deservedly.
"Why?" Chu Xiao looked at Yuan Zhou and asked him.
"Everything here in my restaurant is the best." Yuan Zhou was full of confidence when he said that.
After all, everything provided by the system must be the best one.
"No, that's not the answer I want. Why are you not using the non-stick pan for that dish?" Chu Xiao gestured toward the dish of Steamed Tofu with Minced Pork that had been carried away.
Every word of Chu Xiao contained suspicion, but his tone sounded quite normal.
The dialogue between Chu Xiao and Yuan Zhou appeared quite normal in the customers' opinion.
After all, Chu Xiao had always been elusive recently and asked something or would explain some dishes occasionally.
Although it was a little strange, they likewise understood that well when they knew later that Chu Xiao was a quite awesome chef.
Therefore, the customers were watching the conversation between the two people.
"It's more convenient if it's not sticky." Chu Xiao emphasized.
That's right. When Chu Xiao looked at the pan, he felt it quite strange. If Yuan Zhou used the non-stick pan to pan-fry the tofu, it would save much time. Because of the frying pan, the tofu could be very smooth in the pan without any special consideration.
"Do you use a non-stick pan?" Yuan Zhou asked him back.
"Of course." Chu Xiao nodded his head without hesitation.
"Are dishes cooked with this pan more delicious than those cooked with the non-stick pan?" There was some puzzlement in Chu Xiao's tone this time along with the usual arrogance on his face.
"No. I just feel it requires more attention this way." Yuan Zhou said lightly.
"I feel the non-stick pan also requires a lot of attention." Chu Xiao looked at Yuan Zhou and said earnestly.
"Do you really think so?" Yuan Zhou asked.
Chu Xiao answered blankly, "Sure."
"Okay. That's also very good." Yuan Zhou nodded his head. Then he turned around back to the kitchen and continued cooking.
"That's also good?" Chu Xiao became stupefied. He had thought that Yuan Zhou would argue with him. That way, he had one thousand decent reasons to explain that the non-stick pan had the same effect with the iron pan used by Yuan Zhou and besides, it was more convenient.
Most importantly, he would show his seriousness.
"Heh. Boring." Chu Xiao said that and then left directly.
...